The Gym Babes

Oh yeah, baby, you know you want to work out with me at The Gym.  When I had my second child, forever ago, our midwife gave me a very simple but useful handout.  It was a sheet of exercises that I could do with my baby that would give me vital interaction and bonding with my newborn and help me regain that tight little tummy that I had lost without having to go to The Gym.

Now, I am not an expert from the gym or a dietitian but I am an experienced mother of 6 (OK, only 4 biological and 2 adopted).  Also, I look in great shape for having gone through all that and being over 40, even though I do not go to the gym to work out.

So, without trying to copy someone else's work, I am going to try to remember those exercises for you.  Of course, you will find that you can Google exercise for new mom's and newborns and find lots more on your own and begin immediately to tone and have fun without spending lots of money on going to the gym.  Don't forget, if you child is older than a newborn, there are still lots of ways to adapt or create your own ways to get exercise with your infant, toddler and/or child without going to the gym.

Before you begin these simple exercises, remember this is just like going to the gym: you only want to do as much as you can, don't go until it hurts.  You must start slow and add a little each day.  If you are a brand new mom, don't continue if this causes any excess bleeding.  Wait until your body is ready to begin exercising, and take this as serious as if you were with a trainer at the gym.

Are you ready to begin your workout?

Laying down on your back, place your infant securely on your calves and gently lift her up and down 10 times, remembering to breathe in and out rhythmically.

Place your infant on the floor beside you and rotate back and forth, playing peek-a-boo with your wee one.

Sit cross legged on the floor and hold your infant to your chest. Then rock back and forth 20 times, or as many times as you can take.

Stand up with your child cradled on her tummy across your arms.  Gently swing her back and forth with a twisting motion at your waist.  This is an exercise that was very calming for my infants when they had tummy aches as well.

I hope these have helped you begin to see that you can take you exercise knowledge that you learned at the gym and use it to bond with your baby.  If you would like to share your ideas for how we can save money on the gym and spend more time bonding with our babies, please share with us in the comment section below.

REMEMBER: Why spend your time and your money on the gym, putting your child in daycare, when you can spend your time and your money on your child and your family, building bonds that will last a lifetime!

Home versus The Gym

It can be embarrassing working out at the gym when you see people like this.  I for one have no hope of ever looking like this no matter how much I hit the gym. So when I do go to the gym I have to constantly remind myself that I don't have to look like that to be beautiful. In fact an obsession with the gym, in some peoples eyes, is more unattractive to some people than that little bit of extra belly you have. If you aren't comfortable in yourself enough to hit the gym yet try working out at home, or go for a run. I, myself, don't go to the gym nearly as often as I should, but it's not for lack of self-image. I am just not motivated to go to the gym because I know I look good the way I am. 
I always feel better after a good workout but the gym can sometimes be an inconvenient way to get that feeling. That's OK. Working out at home can be just as beneficial if you know what you're doing. Just be sure you have your doctor's approval before starting any new workout at home or at the gym. You don't want to hurt yourself.

Hollywood hits the gym

Britney Spears and a pal hit the gym. Britney's got the right idea; it's always easier to stay motivated about a New Year's resolution like getting in shape if we have a friend to nag us about our diet plan and keep us company at the gym. Even Hollywood's doing it. Nothing says motivating like trying to keep up with Hollywood. We can even--for a hefty price--wear the clothes that they wear to the gym and work out on the same machines. It's because we all want to look like we belong in Hollywood too. We want to look like we spend an hour in the gym every day, but without actually spending that hour in the gym. Of course, we could always claim a likeness to a celeb who clearly doesn't hit the gym all that often...but it wouldn't be very nice to name names. I come back to my point though; the best way to stay motivated is to drag a friend along to the gym. If you have a friend who already goes to the gym faithfully, great! Piggy-back off of them! If not, maybe you have a friend who is also trying to work up the motivation to get to the gym more often. Perhaps by making a commitment to each other rather than just yourselves you can finally make good on those promises to go to the gym and work out. 

Children at The Gym

I have never seen this young of a child working out at the gym.   It is very important for children to learn healthy habits for caring for their bodies by balancing appropriate cardio, and muscle development.  With younger children it is important to limit the amount of weight and reps they do with muscle building workouts to avoid damages to their bones and joints while they still have developing growth plates.
A good gym should have a trainer who is qualified to work with children and developing a plan for a healthy life as a young person.  The gym should be a place that children  are comfortable so that later in life the gym won't be an emotionally threatening place like the gym is for many adults.  All of this is very important with the many changes in our lifestyles.  A century ago everyone including young children were much more active.  They were busy with farming, gardening, and many other chores.  Even the common chores we still have were much more physically demanding (like the gym workout) because of the lack of electric equipment.   Plus everyone walked everywhere or rode a horse both of which were much more active than sitting in a car.
Helping the next generation understand the value of the gym at a young age will go a long ways to helping them have a positive view of maintaining their bodies.

The Gym vrs Kissing Benefits!! Making Out Workout, Good for Boys & Girls

If you are like me, you don't like to hear the words, The Gym. But take heart! This is a blog about doing The Gym, which will totally change your concept of The Gym. For instance, how does an hour of making out sound for your trip to The Gym? How many other pleasurable things can we find that will help you burn calories, boost your immune system, and bring you enjoyment and relax you, all at The Gym? Let us take a poll: What is your favorite activity that combines all these concepts of Doing The Gym?

So as we explore all the various activities of Do The Gym, we should not forget the basics. So we can just go to making our list:

Making out=

Vacuuming= 

Making Love= 

Washing the car= 

Sweeping= 

Gardening= 

Dancing=

Walking the dog= 

Playing with the baby= 

Window shopping= 

Grocery shopping= 

Antiquing=



Doing The Gym

Come on everybody! Help us out. What do you like to Do The Gym?

The Gym and My 1 year muscle gain and weight gain body transformation before and after

The Gym Diary


How you can use the Gym

You have got to respect this guy's commitment to the gym. I mean, he spent an entire year going to the gym even though from one picture to the next you can't really see the effects of working out at the gym. However if you look at the first and the last pictures, you can see that working out at the gym continually for a year really can work! It takes a lot of willpower to keep going to the gym on a regular schedule, and for a whole year. I don't think I could commit like that to anything, much less the gym, but the results are obviously worth it. I mean, we all want those results, we just don't want to have to spend all of the hours at the gym that are necessary to get these amazing results. Sure we all want muscles, and we all want to look great and show off at the gym, but we eventually get tired of working out at the gym day after day and not seeing the muscles we want immediately. Wouldn't it be great if we could get amazing bodies without going to the gym at all? But we can't, so we spend weeks looking for a good gym, then we spend hundreds of dollars on the gym membership fees, and then we go to the gym and feel like crap because everyone else there has been working out for a lot longer than we have, and they look way better. So we get depressed and go home and feel sorry for ourselves and decide that the gym isn't all that it is cracked up to be. In the end, gym's make more money off of goals than they do off of actual hard work, blood, sweat, and tears.

Skip the Gym

This song doesn't really make me think about the gym. Although it mentions the gym in one of it's verses. This song really just makes me thing of a trip I took to Boston with my family, on the trip we didn't go to the gym even once. When I'm at the gym I prefer to listen to more up-tempo music. Don McLean is not something that gets me motivated when I'm at the gym. I prefer to listen to dance remixes of songs at the gym. The gym does play music that's supposed to get you pumped. However I prefer to bring my own music to the gym. The gym is a place for high energy music, American pie is not that. I would be shocked if I were working out and heard this song at the gym. But maybe you like to just walk on the tread mill, in which case, I don't see why this song would be inappropriate for the gym.